Christmas Cookies & A Wonderful Gift.. (A bit late, I know)

Hope everyones Holiday's have been filled with wonderful feelings and food. I know mine has; the cookies don't seem to ever disappear.

The picture above and aside is my beloved new Kitchen Aid Professional 600 mixer that my father so surprisingly bought me for Christmas. I wasn't ever expecting to get this although I had pined over it at William Sonoma and internet websites many nights... This gift accompanies many other wonderful baking supplies from other family members and my boyfriend including cake decorating stand, cake stand, mini tart pans, biscuit cutter set, a slip-pat mat and many others. I was definitely spoiled this Christmas. They'll receive wonderful goodies in return in addition to there Christmas cookie bags.

Holiday baking this year was like no other so far. I baked off my own set of holiday delectables for gift giving in addition to mother's traditional Christmas cookies. I wanted a diverse and colorful plate and I think I ended up with just that. I also learned a lot in the process. I love the trials and tribulations of new baking adventures. I feel much more seasoned as a baker after this experience. I learned do not heat your jam for your rugelach too much or else the dough will melt to your work surface (yet still bake up into a yummy little mess of goo), I learned making caramel requires attention and will set your burners a flame if it escapes from your pot, and last but not least: baking alone to your favorite music is more soothing and fun than a warm bath with candles.


Here is the complete set. Starting with the dark chocolatey ones from the left, we have Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies with M&M's adapted from Martha, Caramel Nut Bars from Martha with three types of nuts: Salted Peanuts, Cashews, and Pecans, Trail Mix Cookies adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook - hearty oatmeal cookies chock full of salted peanuts, raisins and chocolate chips, Holiday Butter Spritz from Cooks Illustrated - dipped in semisweet chocolate and white chocolate adorned with holidays sprinkles, pistachios, and almonds. Next is Rugelach from Martha with 5 different fillings: apricot, walnut and brown sugar, spiced apple + brown sugar, spiced apple + brown sugar w/ walnuts, chocolate chip and pistachio and honey almond and last but not least Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti from Martha as well.

Whew. Well I'm going to scour my new cookbooks for a cupcake recipe to christen my new mixer with. One last photo... these rugelach are too good.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Look at them in all their glory!

A leftover pumpkin project turned wonderful. I would hate to waste such a precious ingredient as pumpkin so, it needed a purpose in people's tummies which turned out to be the Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. I looked through many recipes before settling on this one. I was thinking something sort of pumpkin-cheesecakey-bar- but there was not enough cream cheese for that venture (however, I did find an awesome looking recipe on Epicurious for a later time). I wanted something that would appeal to the masses, something simple yet with a special twist. I turned to the Libby's Pumpkin website recipe section and these cookies stuck out; the ingredients were items I had on hand and simple enough to turn out before I had to leave for work. The general consensus is overwhelming success; I was requested to bring more cookies into work tomorrow because they finished all the ones I brought tonight. The cookies are soft but not overly so, as they tend to be in cookies that contain pumpkin. They are not overly sweet and have the perfect spicy cinnamon bite. The pecans and raisins are hinted throughout adding to the textural appeal of the cookie. Next time, I would use thicker cut oats (my quick oats were smaller than normal) for an even heartier texture and add more pecans (or walnuts as the original recipe stated) since I only had about a half cup.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
adapted from verybestbaking.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick or old fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup (or more) chopped pecans (or any nut of choice)
3/4 cup raisins

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in nuts and raisins. Drop in large rounded tablespoons onto baking sheet.

Bake 14 minutes or until cookies are lightly brown and centers are set. Cool 2 minutes of baking sheet and then move to wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Yield - about 24-30 large cookies (48 cookie according to original).

This week, I also recieved my Baker's Catalogue from King Arthur Flour.


There are way too many thing I want; What an amazing catalogue. They just make every image so visually appealing and the addition of recipes inside is nice as well. I must go write a detailed Christmas list!